CS EXCLUSIVE | Shut The Front Door

Our friends across the pond at Shut The Front Door throw some of the hottest up-and-coming parties of the moment in the UK. Inspired by the feel-good attitude of disco, nu-disco, and tropical house the guys have created a unique experience and hosted some of the freshest talent around, including Yuksek & Alex Metric as The Alexanders, Mighty Mouse, Crayon, Satin Jackets, Zimmer, Moon Boots, and Le Youth to name a handful. On top of all that they happen to be mighty talented DJs, and their fantastic 'Tropidisco' mixes have become instant essentials for our general well being. We're stoked to say that they've put together our very own killer CS exclusive mix, featuring some of our absolute favorite artists right now. Catch it, and a Q&A with founders Kyle and Olly, below and enjoy!

Kyle: STFD all started quite sporadically in all honestly. Olly had noticed that I had been helping promote a night in London and was aware that I was into DJ'ing from the racket I used to cause at our university accommodation. We had a sit down together, brainstormed a few ideas, which was pretty simple, as we both knew we wanted to create something around what we were passionate about - disco music. STFD was born and with a firm grip on the disco, nu-disco and tropical music we wanted to showcase, we hosted our first party, which was incredible!

Olly: We both shared a passion and knew as we were heading towards the second half of our time at uni we didn't want to end up in dead end jobs and follow our dreams. The event started off in a really small upstairs room of a Tiki themed cocktail bar, which fitted perfectly with the tropical theme. Originally we thought just friends would come along but these huge crowds came from nowhere and we had to expand to both floors of the venue and then move on to a much larger space where we are now based. It all started off with residents and friends playing but before we knew it our heroes from across the world were playing at our shows.

CS: What’s the message behind what you guys do?

K: We really wanted to do things differently to what was currently happening in Nottingham. Our vision was to create almost the perfect house party but instead of the typical 'gritty' vibe that goes with that, showcase music that was fresh, tropical and that people could just have lots of fun to. We wanted to become pioneers in the UK for the artists we were supporting and are somewhat on our way to achieving that.

O: Don't follow the masses, trends come and go but the best times and best music will always stay with you. A lot of stuff is out there that is all about getting the room as dark as possible and getting your head down. However, we want to take those vibes but put it in a more friendly and fun atmosphere where you can still enjoy the music but you can socialise and see who you are dancing with. The best times are those that you share and we want to introduce a new sub-genre to those that may not be aware of it as it isn't played by the majority.

CS: What’s the craziest story you can tell us from a show you’ve thrown?

K: Ha ermm it's been quite tame in all honesty but there was this one time when our first major booking decided to play the disappearing act at the end of the night and not answer their phone. Turned out they'd made their way into a random student flat for an after party that didn't seem to exist... Think they was on a different planet at the time!

O: Over here in the UK a pretty well known 'Hip Hop' artist randomly showed up to one of our shows and seemed to spend the night trying to chat up every girl around him in front of his girlfriend. He seemed pretty content until someone asked who he was... That's pretty tame but it's best to keep some stories out of the public domain ;)

CS: Who are your top five favorite artists currently?

K: Zimmer, Oliver Nelson, Anna Lunoe, Perseus, Hercules & Love Affair

O: Monitor 66, Perseus, Kilter, Bufi, HNNY

CS: Can you suggest some up-and-coming acts people should check out?

K: Jack LNDN. Check out this kid, his productions are basically STFD in a nutshell. We'll hopefully be supporting him with some of our upcoming shows too.

O: ColeCo. I'm a serious fanboy of these Canadians and I still cannot believe how relatively unknown they are. Their last release was something else!

CS: Favorite ways to discover new music?

K: I spend a lot of time studying mixes and waiting for the tracklists to become live but I also get sent a lot of promos, and with the artists we have been booking, it generally tends to be quality music.

O: We get sent loads of music now which is amazing but I also keep an eye on certain blogs and of course Soundcloud. I try to keep away from YouTube channels as they seem to be very duplicated currently.

CS: What’s on your plate for the rest of the year?

K: We've been working on a few things for this year actually; we're going to be at three different UK Festivals this summer and we will be hosting our first international event - details announced soon!

O: We have a few irons in the fire that we cannot disclose yet. Our summer closing party in Nottingham is going to be our biggest line up yet and although we have held a residency in London since last summer, in the autumn we are stepping things up with a bang. There are also a few side projects that we are currently developing that can be announced soon.

A massive thanks goes to both Kyle and Olly for taking the time to dish out what they're all about — and of course for supporting a music scene which we ourselves are quite fond of. If you haven't heard their mixes yet, and especially if you're in the UK and looking for an amazing party, connect with STFD via the links below.